Swan Queen Week (summer 2017)
by pcworth
Summary: Works for Swan Queen Week summer 2017 will be filed here. I'm not sure how many I will do, but here they will be.
1. Realization

_A/N: This is my day one submission for Swan Queen Week 2017 - raising another child together._

Regina wasn't sure how she didn't realize she was raising her daughter with Emma. But she knew she wouldn't have come to realization without her daughter asking a simple question that didn't have a simple answer – at least not at first.

It hadn't started out that way, and it certainly wasn't her intention when she first brought Annabelle home after adopting her as a baby. She had come to the decision that she wanted to adopt a girl when Henry was still a teenager. She had always wanted a little girl and after talking it over with Henry – who was 100 percent supportive of decision – she started the process of adoption.

The day she brought Annabelle home, Henry was there with a "Welcome Home Sister" sign and to her surprise Emma was there with him, holding the other end of it.

In fact, Emma was the first person besides herself to hold Annabelle. Regina had to prepare a bottle for her and Emma offered to hold her. Regina thought back to when she had first brought Henry home and how there was no one there to help with such things and she was happy that Emma and her had become friends enough that she felt comfortable letting Emma help.

It turned into a running theme – Emma somehow became the person who was there when she needed help. When Anna got her first fever and Regina stayed up with all night and into the morning before it broke, Emma was there to watch Anna so Regina could get some sleep. When Regina caught the flu when Anna was four, Emma was there the entire time taking care of not just Anna but also Regina.

On Anna's first day of kindergarten, Emma was there to take pictures of her as Regina saw her off that morning. And Emma was there to comfort her when Regina got a little emotional about her baby girl growing up so fast.

When Anna was seven and wanted to play soccer, it was Emma who taught her how to play and took her to many of her practices for youth league. And on game days Emma was seated beside her cheering Anna on.

Still, despite all of this, Regina was taken aback when Anna asked her at age 8 why it was that Emma didn't live with them.

"Honey, you know that Emma has her own place," Regina said.

"I know, but she should live here."

Regina thought that was cute, and didn't say anything else about it. Then a few weeks later Anna brought up the topic again, this time to Emma while she was over having dinner with them.

"Why don't you live here?" Anna asked her.

Emma who had just put a forkful of food in her mouth, chewed it slowly while looking at Regina as if to ask her what she should say, but Regina remained quiet – a part of her curious as to how Emma might handle this.

After she was done swallowing, she took a drink from her water. "Well, you know I have my own place," Emma said.

"Yeah, I know, but you should live here," Anna said.

Again, Emma looked at Regina as if to ask how she should deal with this. This time Regina did speak up.

"Emma has her own life," Regina said. "If she lived here, how would she explain that to people. Suppose she wanted to go on a date, how would that look if the guy came to pick her up here and she would have to explain what she was doing here. Do you understand?"

"No," Anna said. "She should date you. The other kids in my class, most of their parents live together. Except for the ones who are divorced. Is that what you two are – divorced?"

"What? No, we're not divorced," Regina said, this time looking at Emma for help.

"Anna," Emma said with all seriousness. "You know I'm not your parent, right? Regina is your mom."

"I know," Anna said. "But my mom is Henry's mom and you are Henry's mom, so doesn't that make you my mom too."

"No," Regina said. "It doesn't work like that."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't, but you will when you are older," Regina said.

That effectively shut down the conversation and the rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Later on when Emma was helping her clean up the dishes, Regina brought it up. "I hope that dinner conversation didn't make you too uncomfortable."

Emma shrugged, "It didn't. It just took me by surprise is all."

"Yes, she had asked me that question a few weeks ago, and I tried to explain to her then that you had your own place to be," Regina said. "I didn't expect she would turn around and ask you. I'm sorry, I probably should have told you about it when she asked."

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," Regina said. "I guess I didn't see any reason to bother you with it."

"It's not a bother," Emma said. "You never bother me."

Emma was looking at her with an intensity that Regina had seen and felt before from the other woman but had always managed to push it aside as just one of those things.

"Well, I think that maybe for Anna's sake that maybe we … maybe it would be better if you didn't come around as often," Regina said. "Clearly, she is becoming confused as to the nature of our relationship and your relationship with her."

Emma stood there not saying anything for several moments. "Yeah, sure, I'll go," Emma said turning around to leave.

"Emma, I didn't …"

"No," Emma said cutting her off. "I'm sure you didn't. You know Regina, maybe Anna sees things more clearly than you."

Emma left before Regina could ask her what that was supposed to mean.

For the next week Regina didn't see Emma except for once at a public safety committee meeting and once at the diner – both times they didn't say a word to each other. That week stretched into the next week and then suddenly it was a month since Emma had stepped foot in her house or exchanged more than a sentence that wasn't work related.

And Regina was miserable.

She hadn't meant for Emma to disappear from their lives entirely. She had only wanted to keep Anna from becoming anymore confused about who Emma was. It was then that Regina started asking herself who Emma was in relation to her.

They were friends, or at least had been best friends before all of this. Emma was the one who she called whenever she needed assistance and Emma knew that went both ways. There was that time when Emma had been chasing a suspect and somehow managed to not only trip but twist her ankle up pretty bad. Regina had insisted she come stay at the mansion for at least a couple of days so she could lay with her foot propped up and not have to worry about anything.

Then there was the time that Emma got poison ivy all over her hands and arms and again Regina had helped care for her until she was better.

But it was more than that. Emma had a key to her house. Emma would sometimes pick up Anna after school or watch her on nights Regina was working late. Emma had built a fort from pillows and blankets in Regina's living room for her and Anna to play in. She would sometimes read bedtime stories to Anna or help tuck her in at night.

Emma did everything Regina did when it came to Anna, she realized. Emma was a second mom to Anna and Regina hadn't even noticed it.

And she also didn't know what to do about it.

"Mommy," Anna said, as Regina put her down to bed that night. "Does Emma not like me anymore?"

"No honey, Emma loves you," Regina said. "I know she hasn't been around lately, but that is my fault."

"What did you do?"

Regina smiled at her. "I didn't understand something about Emma, but I understand now, and I promise, I'm going to make it all better. In fact, you remember how you asked why Emma doesn't live here, well I was thinking the same thing. Why doesn't she live here? You would like it if she did, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," Anna said excitedly. "Does that mean Emma's coming to live with us?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to ask her if she would like to," Regina said. "Hopefully, she will say yes."

"When are you going to ask?"

"Soon, honey, soon."

She kissed her forehead and wished her good night. As she closed the door, and walked to her room she thought about what it would be like to have Emma here every day. She found the idea appealing to her, but then her anxiety started to kick in. Would Emma even want to move in here? Would Emma even want to speak to her?

And what exactly would it mean for her to move in here? What would it mean for them?

…

Regina's nerves hadn't settled down by the time she walked into the sheriff's office the next day. She knocked on Emma's door frame.

"Are you busy?"

Emma looked up at her, and then down at her desk as if looking for some reason to say she was busy. "What can I do for you?" Emma asked.

Regina stepped into the office but made no move to sit or come any closer. "I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner tonight."

"Thanks, but I have plans. Maybe some other time."

This time Regina shut the door and took a seat, but she couldn't figure out what she should say. "Please," she said finally. "Anna misses you."

"Well, she is the reason I'm staying away. After all, I don't want to confuse her about anything."

"Emma, please," Regina said.

"Fine, what time?"

"6 p.m. Thank you."

Regina got up and got to the door, figuring it was the best she was going to get.

"Regina," Emma said. "I'm only doing this because I miss Anna."

Regina merely nodded and went out.

…

When 6:20 p.m. came around Regina assumed Emma had decided not to come over and then the doorbell rang. Regina answered it to find Emma standing there. "Sorry, I'm late," Emma said.

"You could have used your key," Regina said. She had given over a spare key years ago to Emma – shortly after she brought Annabelle home.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Emma said and she pulled the key off of her keychain and held it out for Regina.

"Emma," Regina said. "I don't want this night to start off like this."

Emma sighed and put the key in her pocket and walked in as Regina moved out of the way.

"Where's the munchkin?"

"She's over at her aunt Zelena's house. I asked her to watch her for the night."

"Then why am I here? Wait, Zelena's? Do you remember what happened last time she spent the night over there? Zelena let her stay up half the night after letting her ingest a bunch of sugar. Then she puked and called here to have you pick her up. Then she wanted to some 7Up to make her stomach feel better, so I was the one who had to go get some at 4 a.m."

"Yes, I recall," Regina said.

"Come on, we agreed no more sleepovers at Zelena's until she learned to say no to children when they ask if they can do anything they want," Emma said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Exactly," Regina said. "You and I agreed. Now why would I do that? I am her mother, so why do I need your consent?"

Emma turned and grabbed the door handle, ready to leave.

"But I do need your consent because you are Anna's other mother," Regina said. "And it took me well forever to come to this realization. It took our daughter wanting to know why you don't live here. You were right, Anna sees things more clearly than I do. I am seeing things clearly now though."

Emma turned back toward her, and Regina could see she had unshed tears in her eyes. "What are you saying exactly?"

"I'm saying, I want you to keep that key where it belongs on your keychain. I'm saying, I want you to be here, living here with me and Anna, and Henry when he is home from college. I want you to be here with me even when Anna grows up and goes off to college," she said. "I want us to be a family."

"We already are a family," Emma said. "But I'm so happy you finally see it."

Emma came forward and wrapped Regina up in a hug. Then she pulled back just as quickly. "Can we go pick Anna up?"

"Yes," Regina smiled.

"Good," Emma said. "I can't believe you let Zelena watch her. Damn it, we talked about this. I know she is your sister and all, but she is not a good babysitter."

Emma was already halfway out the door as she said this and Regina couldn't help but wonder how it took her this long to figure out she had never been alone in raising Anna. Emma had always been there and always would be.


	2. Career Day

_Day 2 story for Swan Queen Week_

It was Career Day at Storybrooke High School and Regina and Emma were there representing city government jobs. Yet, Emma was sitting behind her table, barely getting any students coming over to learn about a career in law enforcement. Across the gym though she had noticed a steady stream of students at Regina's table.

She also noticed they were mostly male students.

At first, she had shrugged it off, but the longer the day went on, the more curious she was. Now Regina was wearing her normal workday attire, which while Emma found it sexy, it wasn't provocative in any way – at least not in a way that should be attracting so much attention.

If Henry was still in school – he had graduated last year – she would have asked him what was up, because there was definitely something off about this. It wasn't like this was her first Career Day experience up here, but it was the first time she had gotten so little attention.

She ended up taking a break, going out in the hall to get a drink from the fountain. She noticed two students who had just left the gymnasium both of whom had been near Regina's table but had never st down to talk to her. They had been watching her though.

"Hey, hold up," she said, flashing her badge for good measure.

The two guys who were probably sophomores or freshmen she guessed looked like they had just been caught robbing a bank. They got all wide-eyed at her.

"Names?" she said.

"Gary," the one said.

"Sean," the other said. "What can we do for you sheriff."

"Maybe you could answer a couple of questions for me," Emma said. "First off, why were you in there looking at the mayor?"

The two guys exchanged a look – a scared look – but said nothing.

"I could take you to the station if you would feel more comfortable there answering my questions," she said, crossing her arms in front of her for affect.

Again they shared a look.

"Out with it boys," she said in a stern voice.

"Well, um … it's the list," Sean said.

"What list?" she asked.

Another look exchanged.

"What list?" she repeated.

"The MILF list," Gary said quickly. "Mayor Mills topped it this year."

Emma's mouth opened slightly and then she shut it and open it again. She repeated this action several times before speaking. "Do you have a copy of this list?"

"No ma'am."

"You have 20 minutes to find me a copy then," she said. "Bring it to my table."

With that she turned and walked back into the gym. In the 12 minutes it took Sean and Gary to return to the table, Emma had spent it watching Regina's table and the continuing line of horny teenage boys ogling her. Once she had the list in hand, she waved Sean and Gary off and took a closer look at it. There was Regina's name at the top of the list. She looked down the list and her eyes got wide when she saw her own name – down at No. 14.

"Sons of bitches," she muttered.

Later that evening, Emma was still trying to decide whether to tell Regina about the list or not as they sat down to dinner and Regina was telling her about how interested the students seemed to be in city government.

"Are you listening to me?" Regina asked as Emma had zoned out while having her own mental debate.

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"Then you can answer the question I just asked."

Emma thought about lying, but shook her head, "I have no idea what you asked, I'm sorry. I've been a little unfocused today."

"I asked you what a MILF was."

Emma's eyes got wider than Sean and Gary's from the afternoon. "Um, its … it's um … well …"

"I know what it means," Regina sighed. "Today was rather educational and not just for the students. Did you know about this list?"

"I didn't. I mean yes I found out this afternoon while there. I didn't know if I should tell you or not."

"Well I don't mind saying I could have gone another lifetime without ever having that associated with my name," Regina said. "Seriously, how crass is that. I just hope these lists weren't going around when Henry was there at school and I pray if they were, neither of our names were on it."

Emma hadn't even thought of that but she too hoped that were not the case.

"The little monsters didn't even get my name right," Regina said. "Clearly our schools need an upgrade in the education department if something like a name is messed up. It's Regina Swan-Mills. Hyphenated. They dropped the Swan entirely."

"I think you are missing the bigger point here," Emma said. "Those boys today were all there just to get close to you, to stare at you like you were an animal at the zoo. I should speak to every one of their parents so they can teach their sons how to respect a woman. I mean you are a married woman. We have a son that isn't much older than those kids. How would they feel if their mom was on that list?"

"You're upset about being No. 14, aren't you?" Regina said.

"No, don't be ridiculous," Emma said. "And they got my name wrong too."

"Yes, but they appear to spell Snow White correctly at No. 6," Regina said.

Emma groaned. "Please never mention that again."

"Of course, dear," Regina said.


	3. Our grandson

A/N: I decided to take a different path with today's prompt of GRANDmothers. The first thing you need to do, if you haven't read it already, is read my story Strangers Never Come to Storybrooke because this one is a sequel to it.

Emma wanted to get something really nice for Regina for their six-month anniversary. The past six months had been like a dream come true for her. She had been attracted to Regina almost since the moment she met her, but after they became friends, Emma realized she was falling in love with her.

But she didn't think Regina would ever consider taking their relationship in that direction.

Then came that disaster of a camping trip with her parents and Henry. She had showed up at Regina's door wet from the rain and partially covered in mud from where she had fallen. After taking a shower and borrowing some clean clothes, she, Regina and Henry sat down for a nice meal. It was especially nice after a weekend of eating what her parents caught and killed while roughing it.

There were times she was thankful for not growing up in the Enchanted Forest and that camping trip was a reminder of why that was.

Having dinner at Regina's was not an unusual occurrence but something felt different almost immediately and Emma wasn't sure what it was, only that she liked it. Regina and her always knew how to banter back and forth but there was something more flirtatious this time around to it.

The night ended with their first kiss.

They had been dating ever since and their six-month anniversary was in a couple of days and Emma wanted to make it special. She had considered getting an engagement ring and proposing because she was sure that Regina was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but at the same time she didn't know if Regina would think it was too soon for marriage.

Still, she wanted to make this anniversary special. It was why she was currently in Regina's vault, looking for a spell book. She wanted to see if she could make something with her magic like a flower or even a rose, something she could make appear in her hand so Regina would also see that she had taken her magic lessons seriously and that she appreciated Regina teaching her. Of course, that isn't all that she planned on getting her for their anniversary but she saw this as a more symbolic gift.

She thought she found the spell book she was looking for and she had open in her hands reading it when she heard a noise. Shit, she thought, someone was coming down – that someone had to be Regina. Emma backed up instinctively not realizing there was a small table right behind her with several potions on it. She ran into it and it went crashing to the ground just as Regina came into the room. She was about to apologize when she saw the look on Regina's face – a look not directed at her, but behind her. Emma turned just in time to see the portal that sucked her in.

…

Emma woke on the floor of the vault and scrambled to her feet. "Regina?" she said, even as she realized she was alone. The room looked different too. The table she knocked over was gone, as were the trunks where she had been looking for the spell book. Even the book was gone.

"Regina," she called out again, only to get silence.

She made her way up and out of the vault. It was night time even though it had been around noon when she had gone into the vault. Panic began to set in as she saw her car was also gone. What the hell, she thought, surely Regina wouldn't have just left me there.

She kept going over all of it in her head as she walked back into the town proper and headed to the mansion. Once she got there, she was thirsty from the walk and more than a little upset at Regina for disappearing like that. She had no idea what had happened and Regina at least could have helped explain a little of it.

Catching her breath, she rang the doorbell. She thought she heard a child laughing a moment before the door opened and she found she was staring at herself holding a small boy in her arms who was still laughing. The boy stopped when he looked at her and then back at this other Emma.

"Grandma Emma, who that?" he asked pointing at her.

"Regina!" the other Emma yelled, while Emma was frozen in place just staring.

"What is it dear?" Regina said coming up behind this other Emma. It was then that Emma noticed the ring on the other Emma's hand, a ring which matched the one on Regina's.

"This must a dream," Emma said. "A weird, magical coma or something because this is … this is not happening."

"Oh my," Regina said.

"Huh," the other Emma said. "I was wondering when this would happen."

"When what would happen?" Regina asked.

"This is me from the past," Emma said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She put the boy down, but he stayed clinging to her side. "Why don't you come in? Don't worry, you won't be here too long before Regina, your Regina, gets you back."

"What?" Emma asked at the same time as Regina did.

"I can explain. I think," other Emma said. "Seriously, come inside."

Emma glanced at Regina, whom she realized like this other Emma, looked older, and then stepped inside. She followed the two women and the boy who kept looking back at her into the main room of the house and she was struck immediately by how it looked. The furniture was different, there was a huge television that she was sure Regina would never allow in her home and there were children's toys on the floor.

This other Emma bent down in front of the kid. "Why don't you play with your toys while the adults talk, can you do that buddy?"

"No," he pouted. "We were playing together."

"I know," she said. "And I promise I will play with you once we are done talking, ok?"

"No."

"How about you go play until we are done talking and then after not only will I play with you, but we will have some ice cream too."

"Ice cream!" the kid yelled so loud it startled Emma, who again looked at Regina who was shaking her head slightly.

"Emma, we talked about this, you can't bribe him," Regina said.

"Oh, that is rich, coming from the woman who installed an entire playground in the backyard for him," Emma said.

"And I stand behind that decision. He needs to be outdoors and not learning to play video games all day long."

"Hey, I'm all for outdoor activities but you have to admit the tree house with a slide was a little overboard."

"Really, and which one bought him a mini ATV for his birthday," Regina shot back. "You spoil him way more than I do."

"Please. Every time we get to watch him you bake cookies and fix whatever food he wants."

"Just like every time you let him stay up past his bedtime and don't think I don't know about the stash of candy bars you give him."

"I'm sorry," Emma said interrupting. "But what the hell is going on here? Who is that kid? What do you mean I'm from the past? And can I get a glass of water?"

"Of course, dear," Regina said walking out, presumable to get her that glass of water. Emma went ahead and helped herself to a seat on the couch, her eyes on the child playing on the floor.

"That's Barry Allen Mills," the other Emma said, taking a seat on the other end of the couch. "Our grandson. Henry's first child. Well hopefully his first. I expect others. Let me give you the short version as I know it. And I know it because it happened to me already. You were in the vault, thinking you would do some magic for our six-month anniversary with Regina. You knocked over a table, a portal appeared that sucked you in and you woke up in a slightly different looking vault. You came here trying to figure out why Regina would just leave you there in the vault but when you open the door you instead see me, your future self, and your grandson Barry."

"So, this is where you disappeared to that day?" Regina asked as she came back in and handed a glass of water to Emma. "You told me you didn't go anywhere or at least you didn't recall going anywhere."

Future Emma shrugged, "sorry. I didn't think telling you I came to the future for a tiny bit would be a good thing. Besides, if I told you that then I would have had to tell you we got married and we had a grandchild and all of it. I thought it best to keep my mouth shut."

"Wait, so we got married?" Emma asked.

"Yes," future Emma smiled. "We got married. In fact, you ask her on your six-month anniversary. Hint, she says yes. Don't worry, you will be back to your Regina soon. She will pull you back from the portal with her magic."

"Not an easy task," Regina added. "You were lucky I didn't decide to leave you there. As it was I made sure to clean up the vault and make sure no more magical mishaps took place."

"Wow," Emma said. "We get married and that's our grandson. Barry Allen – as in the Flash?"

"Yes," Regina said, proudly. "He's perfect, isn't he."

Emma could barely keep her eyes off him. This was Henry's son. Her son had a son. She was a grandma. Her smile grew bigger at the thought. "I'm going to spoil that kid so much," Emma said.

"See, you admitted it," Regina said.

"I did not, she did," future Emma responded. "And you spoil him way worse than I do."

"He's my only grandchild," Regina said and future Emma just gave her a look. Emma ignored them both and she got down on the floor and sat in front of the boy who handed her a toy to play with.

"Thanks Barry," she said, rubbing the top of his head. She wasn't sure how long they played on the floor together before he started to yawn. Despite wanting his ice cream – something future Emma promised him he could have for breakfast – Regina insisted he go to bed. Emma followed along as the kid got ready for bed and she watched at his two grandmothers tucked him in.

They all came back downstairs afterward and Emma had a hundred questions she wanted to ask.

"You will be back in your time very soon," future Emma said. "I remember this part too."

"Oh, well, I guess there is just one question I wanted to ask, well a million of them, but since my time is almost up, and I already know Regina says yes, so I got to ask …"

Before she could finish she felt a magical pull and the next thing she knew she was on the floor of the vault again, but this time Regina was there. Her first instinct was to swear for getting pulled back before she could ask how quickly they got married after their engagement, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, thank God," Regina said. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where did you go?"

Emma got to her feet and looked around the room – it was definitely the same from her time. Her time, she thought. She had gone to the future. A faint smile formed and she took Regina's hand in hers. "I'm fine. I don't know what happened," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Emma said, knowing she couldn't tell Regina the truth. After all, she wanted that future to come true. She wanted to be able to meet her grandson Barry and spoil him rotten.


End file.
